I Have to Admit, He Makes a Strong Argument
by Alli Elizabeth
Summary: I used Mew Mew Power because that's what I grew up watching. I know he's supposed to be Ryou Shirogane, but I've known him as Elliot for years. Elliotxoc Elliotoc Ryouxoc Ryouoc


I scroll through the songs on my iPod as I walk down the street towards the park, not really focusing on anything. 'Another boring day... Maybe I should get a job or something... That way I'd at least have something to do during the day.' I walk through the park's gate and pick out a large tree. I jump up and situate myself on a sturdy branch. 'I almost wish Dren would cause some trouble so I'd have something to keep me busy...' I muse, selecting _Yubikiri_ and cranking up my headphones to drown everything else out. I lean back against the trunk of the tree and close my eyes, letting the song take me over.

_Hajimete no deai wa hoshi no yoru,  
Watashi kara koe wo kaketa no oboeteru.  
Fushigi honne chitto mo kowakunai,  
Fueteiru hen na kiga no atatakasa yasashii yo._

Moshi mo kimi ga nerai wo kaketara,  
Happily, choppiri, donna sekai demo kaerareru no.

Hey, darling.

Yubikiri shimashou usutsuki nashi yo,  
Kyou mo ashita mo atashi zutto miteru kara.  
Setsunai omoi futari no mirai,  
Hearto ga gyutto naru you na my love todokete,  
Hoshizora ni hikaru poromisu.

Mikazuki wa kirei miterashi dasu,  
Kaeru michi kikochi naku katana wa-

*THWAK*

A small rock smacks me in the side of the head, successfully scaring my balance away and knocking me out of the tree. I land rather ungracefully on my back, my long brown hair sprawled out all over the place.

Someone walks up, causing me to open my eyes.

I'm met with an upside down vision of a smug-looking blonde with bright aqua eyes. I sigh, "What do you want, Elliot? I'm busy..."

He arches one eyebrow, "Doing what?"

"Dying of boredom."

He shakes his head, "Don't you have something to do? Like schoolwork, maybe?"

I sit up, my back facing him, "Nope. All done. So, once again, I'm bored. Unless you've got something for me to entertain myself with, I'm going home to my library and immersing myself in my music while I read a couple dozen books." I get up and dust myself off before turning to him, "So what's up?"

He shrugs, "The girls are doing some 'shopping thing' that Zoey planned out, and Wesley's obsessing over this new idea he had for a dessert at the café. I thought I'd come see what you were up to."

I smirk, "Put simply, you're bored, too."

He sighs, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Hmm, sucks doesn't it? ...Hey, don't _you_ have schoolwork to do? Ms. Hartke's summer project assignment?" I ask, already having finished the project myself.

"No, it's done already. Does it strike you as odd that she's the only teacher who gave us homework over vacation?"

I shrug, "She's a hag. To be honest, it would've stricken me as odd if she _hadn't_ given us an assignment."

He chuckles, "Good point. So what're you gonna do?"

"Head home, I guess. I might stop for ice-cream or something, though; I'm not exactly thrilled about the humidity today," I mutter, slipping my short-sleeved over-shirt off over my head. This leaves me in a black, spaghetti-strap tank-top that cuts off above my mid-drift. I notice the blonde eyeing me and smirk, "I always knew you were a closet pervert, Elliot..."

He shakes his head, "I'm just surprised that you walk around in public like that. You're gonna attract some real creepers, Andi."

I wave it off, "Bah. Creepers can't handle me. I think that was a compliment of some form too, though, so thanks. And I do appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine."

He sighs, "Whatever you say..."

"Exactly. Anyway, if you want, you can come be bored at my house, but I'll probably be writing or drawing or reading... something of that sort. But you're welcome to come all the same." With that, I start for home, not all that surprised when he follows me.

"So has Dren still been giving you trouble?" he asks, falling into step with me.

I shake my head, "Nah, he's too busy with Zoey. Hehe, poor girl. I pity her. But like I said, he hasn't been bothering me at all."

"Should we be worrying about Zoey?"

"I don't think so. He might give her grief, but I don't think he'd do anything to hurt her unless they were in battle and the other Cyniclons were involved...

He gives me an unconvinced look, "How can you be so sure?"

I blink at him, "Dude, the guy's _in love_ with her. In fact, it's not her we have to worry about, it's her boyfriend, what's-his-face... Mark, that's it." I hook my thumbs in my jean pockets, "Dren's got it out for him, big time. He's the jealous type, no doubt about it..."

Elliot rolls his eyes, "How messed up can things get? An alien's head-over-heels for his teenaged enemy..."

I chuckle, "Yeah, well, that's the world we live in." Then I remember, "Oh, yeah..." I reach out and punch Elliot's arm.

He winces, "What the hell was that for!"

"For throwing a rock at my head, dunce. Be happy I didn't pick one up and chuck it at you in return."

He sighs, "There's no winning with you, is there?"

"Nope." It's silent for a while, so I assume it's safe to slip my headphones back on and resume my song, though it'd kept playing over part of the song while I was on the ground.

-_Kimi dakedo mossumu poromisu._

Hey, hey, hey,  
One, two, three, go!  
Hey, hey, hey,  
Yubikiri shimashou,  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, yay!

Yubikiri shimashou yappuuchaii yo,  
Kokoro dare yori daiji na kote usotsode ne,  
Kasukana kitai sugu amaetai-

"Why do you listen to such happy music?" Elliot asks, pulling back one side of my headphones so I'll hear him.

I sigh, pausing the song again. "I _like_ happy music. Is there a problem with that?"

He smirks, "No, it's just strange. You're not exactly the happiest person in the world..."

"I'm happy..." I pause, "...I just don't run around grinning like a friggin' idiot and preaching rainbows and puppies."

He chuckles, "Nice way to put it..."

"You know you're jealous."

"Definitely."

I laugh and start running towards my house, "Catch me if you can, Elliot!"

He shakes his head, "What if I don't want to?"

I stop and turn around, "...Well that's no fun. I may not be as perky as Zoey or Kiki, but at least I'm not a grump like you, _Ellie_."

He twitches, "Don't call me that."

I grin, "What? Ellie?"

More twitching. "Yes, _that_."

"But why not? It's so cute!"

"No, it's not. Don't."

I shrug, "Fine. I'll tell Zoey and let _her_ run with it."

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Why not?" I counter, grinning and completely amused.

"Because I'll be forced to hurt you if you do."

I gasp dramatically, "You wouldn't hurt me! You love me too much to do that!"

"Whoever told you that is an idiot."

I smile, "No one told me, silly! I just know these things!"

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head again, but starts walking after me.

I take to walking, too, not really feeling like running anymore. I look down in thought, "Hey... you wouldn't _really _hurt me, would you?" I can feel his eyes on me as he stares silently.

He sighs, draping an arm over my shoulders, "No... I guess not."

I look up at him, since he's about an inch and a half taller than me, and smile. I rest my head against his shoulder briefly, "Thanks, Elliot."

"Sure."

I straighten up again and walk normally, but the rest of the way to my house, he doesn't withdraw his arm. For some stupid reason, that makes me kind of happy.

When we actually get to my house, his phone makes that one-tone ring that means he's got a text. He checks it and looks sort of surprised.

"What?"

He shrugs, "Harper wants to meet me at the park."

"The one we were just at?" I laugh. I stop though and eye him, "Wait a minute. Harper? The girl from our Physics class?"

He nods.

"Since when do you talk to her?" I ask, seriously confused since he never seemed to pay much attention to her.

"We've been talking for a while. I thought you knew," he says in a very matter-of-factly way.

"Hm," I barely hum a response, having heard Harper talking to her friends about Elliot on more than one occasion. She's got a crush on him, I know it. "You gonna go?"

"I guess so. I'll see you later, Andi." With that, he starts back the way we came.

"Yeah, later..." I murmur, not really loud enough for him to hear me. With a sigh, I head inside and go straight to my room. I don't really have a right to be annoyed by Harper, I guess. I barely know her. All I do know is that she's definitely crushing on Elliot and that she and her friends don't like me. Did I mention that they talk about me too? Not in quite as nice a way as Elliot. 'Bah, whatever.'

Feeling my good mood completely disappear, I grab my sketchbook off the bookshelf and situate myself on my stomach on my bed, the book open on my pillow in front of me, then start drawing. After the first few seconds, I let my body go on autopilot and lose myself in my thoughts. Of course, the things I'm thinking are pretty much the same as they were two minutes ago.

'Why should I be ticked at Harper for talking to Elliot? A better question would be why I feel like finding her and beating her with a stick.' These questions eventually lead up to me wondering why I'm bothered by any of this in the first place, to which I draw a blank. That's when I go back on manual and actually look at what I'd been drawing.

There on the paper is a rough sketch of my blonde friend leaning against the wall of the café.

I blink, "...The hell! Why did I-" I stop and growl at my own thoughts. "I do _not _like Elliot like that! Never have, and never will!" After staring at the sketch for a few seconds, I sigh, "It's a pretty good sketch, though..." Rather than tearing it out and throwing it away, I decide not to waste a good drawing and see it through. Hey, as long as he never sees the stupid thing, it'll just be another drawing in my book; nothing special. And so, this ends up being how I pass the time for the day, since it takes me another three hours to add all the details and shade everything. Once I'm finally done with it, I just look at it for a bit because, sadly enough, this is probably one of the best drawings I've ever done. And I can't even show anyone without having jokes made about me liking him... That figures.

"What's that?"  
I manage to keep myself from falling off my bed, but a fox tail and ears pop out from surprise. Shoving the sketchpad behind me, I glare at Elliot, "Could you _not_ sneak up on me next time!"

He chuckles, "You left your front door unlocked. Would you rather have had some stranger come inside than me?"

I pretend to think about that. "...Should I answer that honestly?"

He rolls his eyes, slightly tugging one of my ears, "Maybe you shouldn't space out like you do. Then you wouldn't be so surprised."

I growl, swatting his hand away, "Don't touch my ears! You know I hate it when you do that!"

He smirks, "I know." He glances past me, "Another drawing?"

"Uhh, yeah, but it's nothing, really. Just something I was doodling to pass the time."

"Can I see it?" he asks, already reaching behind me for the sketchbook.

I swat him again, "No, you can't."

He gives me a weird look, "Why not?" The weird look then turns into another one of his arrogant expressions. "What, did you draw a picture of your _crush_ or something?"

Now blushing out of both embarrassment and frustration, I glare at him, "No, I didn't. I said you can't see it, is that really such a big deal?"

"Yeah, since you let me see just about everything you write or draw. Why is this any different? It's gotta be something you just don't want _me_ to see," he answers smartly.

He goes to reach around me again, so I try to tackle him, but he moves out of the way and I end up tumbling onto the floor. "Hey!"

He just laughs and picks up the book.

I just sit on my knees and look down at the floor, my back to him. I know it'll only be a few seconds before he starts making fun of me, since that's just how he is.

He actually doesn't say anything, but I can feel him looking at me.

I bite my lip, "So, what happened with Harper?"

He waits a few seconds before answering, "...Not much. We hung out for a while, and then..."

I barely glance over my shoulder at him, "Then?"

"She told me she liked me, that she has for a while."

My eye twitches, and I feel a sting of anger. "Oh. Well, good for you, I guess," I reply, keeping all traces of venom out of my tone. My gaze is still glued to the carpet.

Elliot circles around in front of me and kneels down to my level, then hands me my sketchpad.

I just blink and look at him.

He smiles a real, non-smirking smile, "I turned her down." Cue the shocked expression. "Harper's nice and all, but I don't really know her." He stands, offering me a hand.

I accept it, getting up as well. The suspense totally killing me, I give him a suspicious look, "...What? No jokes about the drawing?"

He shakes his head, "No. It's a good picture."

"...That's really, REALLY unlike you. I mean, you're not even laughing at me." I pause, "...Are you sick?"

Now he laughs, "I'm fine Andrea. And like I said, I like the drawing. Would you rather I laugh at you? I mean, I figured you'd get mad, but if it makes you feel better..."

"NO. That's okay, thank-you," I state, choosing to take the smart route. Something dawns on me then. "Wait a minute, something IS wrong with you! You called me Andrea!"

He just sort of stares blankly, "...What's your point?"

"You never call me that. Wesley's the only one that does that. ...Something's up that you're not telling me," I conclude. When he rolls his eyes _again_, I narrow mine at him a bit. "Elliot, I've known you since grade-school. I know you well enough by now to tell when something's wrong. Spill it."

He sighs, "What makes you think it's okay for you to know? Maybe it's none of your business."

"Just like I said I didn't want you to see my drawing, but you won that argument anyway. ...What's the matter?" I ask, surprised at the amount of concern in my own voice. After nearly ten seconds of silence, I sigh, "Fine, we'll do this the grade-school way."

He arches one eyebrow, obviously confused. "What?"

I sit on my bed, "I'll tell you a secret of mine, and you tell me what's bugging you. We used to do this in sixth grade, remember?"

He actually chuckles, "Yeah, I remember. ...Alright, we'll play it your way. But this secret of yours better be good."

I can feel my face beginning to look about the same shade as Zoey's hair, but I nod and grip my sketchbook. "When you asked about my drawing before, I sorta... lied. A little."

__

'What, did you draw a picture of your** crush** or something?'

Elliot's eyes widen a little, but he doesn't seem like he's going to say anything.

I sigh, "So what's bugging you?"

It's a few seconds before he answers. "Just something that Harper told me when I said 'no' to her." He sits next to me. "She's convinced that you have feelings for me, so she said I rejected her because of you; because I liked you better."

I process this, then look down at the carpet with a blush on my face. "Well... she was half-right."

"No, she was right." Elliot has that tone where you can _hear_ his smirk.

I turn and stare at him, "...What?"

He just laughs, "You're cute when you're confused."

I pout with a half-hearted glare.

He simply says, "I like you too, Andi."

"..." My thoughts just hit a dead end. 'Say something, idiot! Open your mouth and make words!' I scream at myself, but my voice won't listen.

"Never thought I'd see the day you were struck speechless," he jokes, still wearing his confident expression.

That kicks me back into gear, starting with another slight glare. Just because Elliot is... well, Elliot, I need to ask, "I know you, Blondie... How can I be sure you're not just messing with me?"

He chuckles at the question. "Yeah, I guess you do know me if you have to ask." Without answering, he slips his hand around to the back of my neck and tugs me towards him. His lips meet mine halfway, causing what feels like butterflies to start fluttering in my stomach.

With a blink or two to convince myself this is really happening, I close my eyes and start kissing back.

Elliot nips my lower lip, but I decide to mess with _him_ for a change and keep my mouth closed. He catches on, though, and smirks against my lips. His hand moves from my neck up to one of my fox ears. He runs his fingers along it before lightly tugging on the end.

The feeling makes me gasp and almost pull away, but his other hand rests on the small of my back, keeping me from going very far.

He takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth, which makes the butterflies spread all over me.

'Cheater...' I muse in my dazed state. I fight back, though, trying to push his tongue back with my own as my body practically finds a will of its own. My arms circle around his shoulders while our "war" rages on. I feel a little disappointed, though, because I have to break the kiss for some much needed air.

When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Elliot's smirk. I laugh a little breathlessly. "Alright, I believe you."

His smirk becomes a smile. "Then do I have to convince you to be my girlfriend?"

I look up at the ceiling, pretending to be debating the answer. "Hmm... Well, that depends on whether you're gonna protect me from Harper. As soon as she finds out, she'll have the hounds on me."

He looks amused at the thought. "You're a superhero. You don't need protecting."

"Gee, thanks. I can really feel the love, Elliot."

Still smiling, he brushes some of my hair out of my face. "So? Is that a yes?"

I sigh, feigning annoyance. "No, I guess I don't need anymore convincing."

"That's too bad; I was enjoying persuading you," he teases suggestively, his usual smirk back in place.

I smirk right back. "Then 'persuade' me not to hurt you for being a pervert."

"You love me too much to do that," he says, quoting me from earlier today.

I make a fist and move like I'm going to hit him, but he catches my wrist in mid-swing. I shrug, "Whoever told you that is an idiot."

"Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not, _Ellie_," I reply in a sickeningly sweet tone.

He narrows his eyes at me, but smirks all the same. "I guess that's something else I'll have to 'convince' you not to do."

"Oh, I like that idea," I taunt.

"Why's that?"

I grin, leaning close to him again. "Because that'll take _a lot_ of convincing."


End file.
